Thursday, February 16, 2006

Warren Wilson Theatre continues its 2005-2006 season with the timeless “Our Town” from three-time Pulitzer Prize winner Thornton Wilder. “Our Town” will play Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m. from Feb. 16-25 in Kittredge Theater, with an additional performance on Sunday, Feb. 19 at 2 p.m.

Highly acclaimed and celebrated over the years, “Our Town” was first presented on a bare stage on Broadway in 1938. The Pulitzer Prize-winning play is Wilder’s sublime and crushing masterpiece of the American theatre. It also is a shocking testament to the power of theatre to make the world alive again, through the profound evocation of impermanence.

Warren Wilson Theatre’s innovative production extends the idea of an empty space, combining the traditional areas of audience and actors, and mixing the present time with that of the play’s early 20th century setting. Working without props or scenery since November, the all-student cast has been mastering ensemble-acting technique under the direction of Ron Bashford.

Describing his production of “Our Town” for Warren Wilson Theatre, Bashford said: “We are working toward an open style of performance liberated from presentational conventions, an experience which is ‘here and there,’ ‘then and now.’”

Bashford, a New York City-based theatre artist, directs frequently for North Carolina Stage Company in Asheville. His productions of “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” and “Hamlet” received the Mountain Xpress Reader’s Choice Awards for Best Production 2003. He has also directed “Loot,” “Art” and “The Syringa Tree” for NC Stage. Later this year, he will be associate director of a new Broadway musical, “Lone Star Love,” featuring the Chapel Hill band The Red Clay Ramblers.

Tickets to performances of “Our Town” are free of charge for Warren Wilson College students; $5 for area students, seniors, and WWC faculty, staff and alumni; and $10 for all others. Seating is limited, and reservations are highly recommended. To reserve seats, call the Warren Wilson Theatre Box Office at (828) 771-3040.

1 comment:

Back in my theatre days, I played Stage Manager. I must confess, I didn't particularly enjoy the opening lines. Not until after a rooster crows... "The sky is beginning to show some streaks of light over in the East there, behind our mount'in." The plays, "Our Town" and "I Never Sang For My Father" (I played the son) are two of my favorite plays.

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